I have a problem, and admitting it is the first step to finding a resolution. I am a domain addict. The saying goes, one person's trash is another man's treasure, well I have been playing around in the domain aftermarket for a while scooping up domains that others decided to let expire. Some domains I buy because they have good inbound links and I can "301 redirect" those domains to my existing websites that are on the same topic, others I buy for potential PPC parking revenues until I am ready to develop them and monetize them. Some I turn around and sell if the right offer comes along.
In the domain auction today I picked up 70+ domain names, most of which were between $9 and $19, however today I found myself bidding a bit higher on quite a few domain names. I kept going back and forth with Tony, the CEO I hired for IMWave back in October of 2006, about how much to spend for certain names, and I thought the conversation and outcome would provide for a good read and maybe offer up some lessons for both myself, from your feedback, and others.
Here it goes:
Adam: ut
Tony: y
Adam: bunch of auctions today, need fast calls
Tony: ok
Adam: babyboomercompany.com and babyboomersolutions.com
Tony: 150
Adam: bestratetravels.com
Adam: brandkid.com
Adam: canypacks.com
Adam: discountkidsbedding.com
Adam: medicinepass.com
Adam: mobireviews.com
Adam: mrtummy.com
Adam: newcarpricesonline.com
Tony: wow
Adam: 4m on all I am running fast
Tony: bestratetravels 100-150 not my fav
Tony: brandkid 100-200
Tony: canypacks 100-150
Adam: seriouscooks.com
Tony: discountkidsbedding 200
Tony: medicinepass 75-10
Tony: mobireviews 150-200
Tony: mrtummy ?? maybe 75-100?
Tony: newcarpricesonline 150
Tony: seriouscooks 150
Adam: bestratetravels has topped $150, let it go?
Tony: y
Adam: also optionradar.com
Adam: onlinemedicalsearch.com
Tony: optionradar.com your call on that one
Adam: mrtummy.com has passed 100
Adam: funny diet site?
Tony: jackie says its cute...
Tony: go to 150
Tony: onlinemedicalresearch & onlinemedicalsearch 100-150
Adam: ok slowing down now.. optionradar is past 100 will let that one go
Tony: y
Adam: newcarpricesonline has passed 150
Adam: serioucooks has passed 150
Adam: discountkidsbedding has passed 200
Tony: newcar don’t chase that one
Tony: seriouscooks 200
Adam: past 200
Tony: not sure we should chase that one
Adam: $250?
Tony: y
Adam: past
Tony: discountkidsbedding 250, then done
Adam: brandkid is past 200
Adam: mrtummy is past 200
Adam: seriouscooks is past 250
Tony: we've spent a lot on names this month....not sure how high we should go...
Adam: ok we will let the rest go
Adam: although discountkidsbedding we might be kicking ourselves later
Adam: and seriouscooks
Tony: i do like both of those....let go after them
Adam: how high?
Tony: what do you think 350?
Adam: ok
Adam: mrtummy? haha
Tony: you can try 250
Adam: discountkidsbedding is past $350
Tony: i really like that one...what do you think?
Adam: 400?
Tony: ok
Adam: nope outbid at 4
Adam: 450 max?
Tony: yeah, don't chase it past 450
Adam: ok kidsbeds past 450, letting it go, we are good on the rest it looks like
Adam: nope seriouscooks just went past 350
Tony: 400 max on that one
Adam: that's a serious brand
Tony: want to go to 500?
Adam: you could turn that into a whole business
Adam: we need to find a way to start building these out in rapid order.
Tony: content person
Adam: yeah but they have to be technical enough to build the whole thing
Adam: mrtummy is ours!
Adam: that's my new nickname!
Tony: nice!
Adam: need a good logo for that one!
Tony: how about seriouscooks
Adam: I'm thinking tatoos and an animated character...
Adam: move over Mr. Clean!
Tony: oh boy
Adam: damn, seriouscooks just went over 400
Tony: i thought we said 500
Adam: oh ok
Adam: damn, outbid at $500
Adam: you could turn that into something really big
Adam: I'm thinking $800 max
Tony: ugh...ok go for it
Adam: you don't sound sure
Tony: just thinking about costs...
Adam: made quite a bit on domains last month...
Tony: right.
Adam: we are high bid at $700 right now...
Tony: go for it
Adam: domains are the new crack
Adam: outbid on seriouscooks @ 800
Tony: that one is going to go for a lot I think
Adam: not unless we keep bidding, it's just one other person we are fighting with
Tony: go for 1000
Adam: we have a lot of cooking aff programs
Adam: 1000 placed
Adam: currend bid is $901
Adam: damn, outbid at 1k
Tony: looking hard at that name.
Tony: let's take one last crack at it
Tony: no pun intended
Tony: want to max at 1500
Adam: let's do 1550 in case they pull that number out of their butt to, they will be outbid.
Tony: ok
Adam: ok current bd is $1,138 (odd number)
Tony: that is odd
Adam: if we get outbid again we are letting it go, to rich. We should start thinking of a build out plan for this one, we won't make our money back on parking revenues
Adam: ok, outbid, time to cut bait. it's at 1,588
Adam: sad
Tony: yep
Tony: we could make out money back on this though
Adam: ?
Adam: who the hell let's these names expire!!!
Adam: $2k?
Tony: want to go higher?
Adam: haha great minds... never say die!
Tony: right!
Tony: 2050
Adam: you sure?
Tony: no
Adam: I'm going to have to publish this chat as a blog post... haha
Tony: after 2k I'm out though...you're on your own
Adam: $2,050 bid placed
Adam: currently winning at $1,638...
Adam: Crap, outbid, current bid is $2,068
Adam: do I hear $2,500?
Tony: how much time?
Adam: hell the name is worth 5k right?
Adam: we would need to bid at least $2,118 to stay in the game but would probably be automatically outbid at that price.
Adam: what do you think?
Tony: i think it has value
Tony: just not sure how much
Adam: it's like buying land and then building a house, how much for the land and how much to build the house?
Tony: try 2500
Adam: it's would be a lot better if one of us actually was a seriouscook!
Adam: we will have to higher a content web builder that cooks!
Adam: 2500 placed.
Adam: current bid is $2,118
Tony: right, but we'll have to pay them less cause we paid so much for the name
Adam: haha, right!
Tony: it's an investment
Adam: outbid at 2500
Adam: haha, so are we done?
Adam: current bid is $2,600 from hattiejak
Adam: 2m left
Tony: is that a new bidder or the same one
Adam: same bidder
Tony: make him pay to have it at this point 3050
Adam: serious?
Adam: 1m
Tony: y
Adam: ok placed.
Adam: they came up but not over us yet, current bid price is 3050
Adam: probably went 3k
Adam: 4m
Adam: outbid
Adam: it's at 3,150 now
Tony: ok, I'm really out this time.
Adam: ok me too, hard to let go, but we could probably make money using seriouscooking.com or something...
Tony: yep
Adam: haha here are some that we can register for $8.95
Adam: seriouscook.com
Adam: headcooks.com
Adam: cookingserious.com
Adam: seriouscooking.com
Adam: seriouschefs.com
Adam: how much would you bid for those?
Adam: amazing how much value things have when someone else wants them!
Tony: huh, sure is
Adam: which ones of those do you want?
Tony: seriouscook.com and seriouscooking.com
Adam: that it?
Adam: was thinking seriouschefs.com might be good too!
Adam: now we can put the 3k into development
Tony: hey for $9 grab it
Adam: Done!
What do you think? Have I gone off the deep end or what? Besides the more expensive names I picked up above, I also did end up acquiring quite a few domains that I think could have a lot of future value at bargin prices. For example, I acquired efashionland.com, mygroceryshopper.com, worldpokerbootcamp.com, buythaifood.com, podpersonal.com, localsalesforce.com, and mailfrombeyond.com for just $9 each and homedvdclub.com for $11, xmlmasters.com and babystepsgifts.com for $19, as well as others.
If you want to get into the Domain Game, there is a great new magazine that just launched called Domainers Magazine.
Once you grab some names, you can park them at a PPC parking provider until you are ready to develop them. These companies will host your domain and serve up keyword related PPC ads to your site visitors for a piece of the action. I have used TrafficClub in the past and after reading a good review about the flexibility and higher payouts offered by SedoPro, I have started testing some of my higher traffic domains there, so far so good. SedoPro is a bit exclusive, but if you have some good domains, comment to this post or email me, and I will send you a SedoPro Endorsement Code.
I would love to hear your thoughts on my domain addiction; it appears to be getting worse. Are these good investments? Or am I just being swept up on the whole auction thing?



More About Bidding on Expiring Domain Names - I'm a Domain Addict